BERKELEY -
The No. 10 University of California men's gymnastics team (1-5) set a new team high score Sunday in a 435.350-426.450 loss to Bay Area rival No. 4 Stanford (5-1).

The Bears started off with an excellent rotation on the pommel horse, where three Cal freshmen posted scores higher than 14.00 to sweep the event's titles. Takahiro Kawada claimed the top pommel title of the night with a career-best finish of 14.50, while Kevin Wolting (14.350) and Colt Kucker (14.150) finished just a few fractions of a point behind to earn second and third place, respectively. California finished with a 69.50 team score in its first event.

Cal's second rotation, the floor exercise, had a few small steps and hops for deductions by the Golden Bear lineup, but the team finished with a strong 74.10 team score. Wolting once again made a major contribution to the team, earning another second-place victory for the night with a 15.40 performance. Junior Jeffrey Langenstein took the third spot with his 15.250 routine.

The Bears entered the vault rotation with a promising 143.600-142.450 lead over the Cardinal through two events. Wolting used a solid yurchenko double-full vault that was beautifully stuck to claim another title for the night, this time for third place with his 14.950. He shared third place with fellow freshman Ryan Patterson, who matched Wolting's score to set a new career-best. The team finished with a 74.00 on vault.

It was on the rings where California began to run into some trouble, finishing with a 68.20 to Stanford's 73.250. Through four rotations, the Cardinal pulled away with a 290.60 to 285.80 lead. Cal moved on to both bars events, where the team was unable to gain the lead, finishing with a 70.750 on the parallel bars and a 69.90 on the horizontal bars.

The Golden Bears will be back in Palo Alto Saturday, where they will face the Cardinal for the fourth time this season. Meet time is set for 7 p.m.